When two rolls of paper towels are dispensed from a cabinet, the cabinet usually includes means for sensing that the first roll is exhausted and then automatically dispenses from a second roll. One such dispenser is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,007,650-Burton wherein paper from a roll A is dispensed through a nip formed by feed rollers 15, 16 and paper from a second roll B is dispensed through a nip formed by feed rollers 19, 20. Feed rollers 16 and 20 are grooved and spring loaded sensing fingers 47 ride on the paper over the grooves. When a roll is depleted, and the end of the web of the depleted roll has passed over its respective feed roller 16, 20, the spring loaded finger 47 will enter the groove and an associated arm 48 will initiate dispensing from the other roll. Burton also discloses that an element within the dispenser can be caused to move when the door is opened.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,288,387-Craven eliminates one pair of feed rollers. In Craven the extended web from the first roll is fed through a nip formed by a pair of driven feed rollers and the web from a second roll of paper is extended and held by gripping means adjacent to the nip of the feed rollers. A roller riding on the first roll acts as a sensing member. The core of the first roll has a cavity and upon depletion of the first roll, the sensing roller falls into the cavity which causes the gripping means to introduce the web of the second roll into the nip of the feed rollers thereby allowing paper from the second roll to be dispensed through the cabinet.
Another approach for sensing when a first roll is exhausted and introducing the web of a second roll into the nip formed by a pair of feed rollers is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,743-Bastian, assigned to the assignee of this invention. Bastian uses a following roller that contacts the surface of the first roll to sense the diameter of that roll. Transfer means for introducing the web of the second roll into the nip of the feed rollers is connected to and travels with the following roller. When the first roll is exhausted, the following roller and connected transfer means will have pressed the extended web of the second roll into the nip formed by the feed rollers.
U.S. Pat No. 3,948,454-Bastian, assigned to the assignee of this invention, discloses a two-roll tissue dispenser wherein a pivoted lever 20 has at one end thereof a knob 12 that senses when a first roll of tissue is exhausted and enables a second roll of tissue to drop down into a dispensing zone of the dispenser.
When a dispenser is capable of dispensing both from a first roll and then from a second roll, it would be desirable to have an indication of when paper is being dispensed from the second roll so that the person servicing the dispenser could readily observe that a new roll of paper can be placed into the dispenser. U.S. Pat. No. 2,601,956-Birr discloses a roll usage indicator for a single roll dispensing cabinet. In the Birr dispensing cabinet, a pivoted arm 30 maintains contact with a periphery of the roll. An indicator 34 attached to the arm 30 is visible through a slot in the sidewall of the dispenser. The position of the indicator 34 in the slot indicates the amount of toweling that remains in the cabinet.
One method of supporting rolls of towels in a dispenser is to mount the roll on a pair of hubs when extend into the core of the roll. One of the hubs is usually mounted on an arm that is moveable or spreadable in the axial direction of the roll so that an attendant can readily place a new roll in the cabinet. One problem with using a spreadable support arm is that if a cabinet is subjected to a blow on a sidewall, the arm may spread sufficiently so that the hub comes out of the core and the roll falls off the support into the cabinet. U.S. Pat No. 3,797,769-Tucker, as depicted in FIG. 7, overcomes this problem by employing a stop 90 and a pin 92 to limit the lateral travel of the roll support member.
It is an object of this invention to provide in a multiple roll dispensing cabinet means for sensing that a first roll is depleted and means for automatically transferring to dispensing from a second roll.
It is another object of this invention to provide a visual indication that the dispenser is dispensing from a second roll.
And yet another object of this invention is to provide means for stabilizing the support of the roll within the dispenser that is activated when the door of the dispenser is closed and inactivated when the door of the dispenser is open.